The mission of the Oakland Public Works (OPW) Training Academy is to provide on-the-job training, employability, and job acquisition skills for Oaklanders between 18-30 years of age. The academy provides two important benefits to our community: filling vacancies within the department to enhance service delivery, and providing well-rounded training and support to young adults to help them gain and maintain long-term employment.
Recruitment focuses on Black and Latinx young adults from East Oakland, Fruitvale, and West Oakland (specifically, zip codes 94621, 94603, 94605, 94601, and 94607) to address critical disparities in employment access as identified by the City of Oakland’s Department of Race and Equity. Individuals who face barriers to employment are encouraged to apply including those who are currently unemployed and/or out of school, in transition from foster care, justice system-involved, affected by a history of mental health or substance abuse issues, or from a low-income household.
The program is designed to meet the following objectives:
- Expose trainees to career opportunities within Oakland Public Works.
- Provide a variety of social, safety, and life-skills trainings to prepare participants to be successful when working individually and as part of a team or crew.
- Provide tailored job acquisition training (for example, resume writing and interviewing skills) to strengthen competitiveness when applying for full-time employment in Oakland Public Works and the City of Oakland at large.
- Place trainees in a full-time, 6 month long position, for firsthand experience performing job duties/tasks, and to learn other skills necessary to apply for the corresponding entry-level position.
- Reduce OPW vacancies with individuals from the local community to better serve those same communities.